Abilities
Abilities in Magic: The Gathering are characteristics of a card or object which can be found as text but are not flavor or reminder text. Those functions can directly affect gameplay and are defined in the official Comprehensive Rules. Abilities are often reusable and impact strategy to a significant degree. Some abilities can also be granted to a card or object by other effects or spells. In most cases in Magic: The Gathering Arena abilities are depicted by specific icons. Please note: not all of the mentioned keywords on this page comply to the definition of abilities according to the Comprehensive Rules. This is on purpose and is supposed to help especially new players to find what they are looking for. Details Abilities are from one of these four general categories: Evergreen Abilities Evergreen Abilities are abilities that are not unique to one or more sets and can appear in any set without special mentions in the release notes. The current Evergreen Abilities are: Deathtouch, Defender, Double Strike, Enchant, Equip, First Strike, Flash, Flying, Haste, Hexproof, Indestructible, Lifelink, Menace, Prowess, Reach, Trample and Vigilance.Mark Rosewater, Keyword Play, wizards.com, June 18, 2007 List of Abilities These keyword abilities and keyword actions are currently available in Magic: The Gathering Arena: Adapt A keyword action that lets a player put +1/+1 counters on a creature if it there none on it yet. Afflict A triggered keyword ability that makes the defending player lose life for blocking. Afterlife A triggered keyword ability that creates an amount of white and black Spirit creature tokens with flying when a creature dies. Aftermath A static keyword ability that lets a player cast one half of a Split Card only from their graveyard. All cards with aftermath were removed from the game as part of the September 27 2018 open beta game update. Amass A keyword action that gives you a Zombie Army creature token or grows an Army you already have. Ascend A spell/static keyword ability causing a player to get the designation of the City’s Blessing once he or she controls ten permanents. Convoke A static keyword ability that lets you tap creatures rather than pay mana to cast a spell. Crew An activated keyword ability that lets you tap creatures to turn a Vehicle into an artifact creature. Cycling An activated keyword ability that lets a card be discarded and replaced with a new card. Deathtouch A static Evergreen keyword ability that causes damage dealt by an object to be especially effective. Any amount of damage dealt is enough to kill the receiving creature. Defender A static Evergreen keyword ability that prohibits a creature from attacking. Double Strike A static Evergreen keyword ability that lets a creature deal its combat damage twice. Embalm An activated ability keyword that lets a player exile a creature card from their graveyard to create a mummified token version of that card. Enchant A static Evergreen keyword ability that defines what an Aura spell can target and what an Aura permanent can be attached to. Equip An activated Evergreen keyword ability that lets a player attach an Equipment to a creature they control. Eternalize An activated keyword ability that lets a player exile a creature card from their graveyard to create an eternalized token version of that card. Exert A keyword action that stops a permanent from untapping during the next uptap step of the player who exerted it. Explore A keyword action that causes a player to reveal the top card of their library and then to take different actions depending on whether a land card is revealed this way. Fabricate A triggered keyword ability that lets you choose whether to create Servo tokens or put +1/+1 counters on a creature when it enters the battlefield. First Strike A static Evergreen keyword ability that lets a creature deal its combat damage before other creatures. Flash A static Evergreen keyword ability that lets a player play a card any time they could cast an instant. Flying A static Evergreen keyword ability that restricts how a creature may be blocked. Haste A static Evergreen keyword ability that lets a creature ignore the “summoning sickness” rule. Hexproof A static Evergreen keyword ability that precludes a permanent or player from being targeted by an opponent. Improvise A static keyword ability that lets you tap artifacts rather than pay mana to cast a spell. Indestructible A static Evergreen keyword ability that precludes a permanent from being destroyed. Jump-Start A static keyword ability that lets you play Instants and Sorceries from your graveyard by discarding another card, paying mana and exiling the spell. Kicker A static keyword ability that represents an optional additional cost. A spell has been kicked if its controller declared the intention to pay any or all of its kicker costs. Lifelink A static Evergreen keyword ability that causes a player to gain life. Menace A static/evasion Evergreen keyword ability that makes creatures unblockable by a single creature. Mentor A triggered keyword ability that lets a player put a +1/+1 counter on another attacking creature with less power when attacking with a creature with Mentor. Proliferate A keyword action to give an additional counter to any number of players and/or permanents of each kind they already have. Prowess A triggered Evergreen keyword ability that causes a creature to get +1/+1 whenever its controller casts a noncreature spell. Reach A static Evergreen keyword ability that allows a creature to block an attacking creature with flying. Riot A triggered keyword ability that lets a player chosse if a creature enters the battlefield with haste or a +1/+1 counter. Spectacle A static keyword ability that gives a spell an alternative mana cost and/or altered effect if an opponent lost life this turn. Surveil A keyword action that means to look at the top cards of your library, put any number of them into your graveyard and the rest on top of your library. Trample A static Evergreen keyword ability that modifies how a creature assigns combat damage. Transform A triggered/activated keyword ability that allows to turn double-faced cards upside down. Vigilance A static Evergreen keyword ability that lets a creature attack without tapping. Ability Words While being very similar to keyword abilities, Ability Words don't appear in the Comprehensive Rules. Their primary purpose is to shorten the rules text on cards which belong to the same theme. Ability Words are ordinarily being used on cards from the same set or block. For example, Raid can exclusively be found on Pirate-themed cards in Ixalan and Rivals of Ixalan (Ixalan block). Addendum Addendum improves or alters the effect of a spell if it is cast during a main phase. Enrage Enrage is a triggered ability word introduced in Ixalan as the signature mechanic for the Dinosaurs of the Sun Empire. It gives an advantageous effect when the creature recieves damage. Raid Raid checks to see if you've attacked with a creature during that turn. It was introduced in Ixalan and can be found on Pirate and Pirate-themed cards. Revolt Revolt checks whether a permanent you controlled left the battlefield this turn or not in order to alter a spell's effect. Undergrowth Undergrowth abilities care about the number of creatures in your graveyard. Comprehensive Rules References __NOEDITSECTION__